Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Cafe Iguana

Cafe Iguana really made me such a Mexican food convert! the first time I ate here was actually with the surgery team (can you imagine the consultants actually suggesting this place??!! and eventually turning red on magaritas??) and the second time round i had a late dinner here with the mountains and both meals were equally memorable...because of the nachos! oh my, im getting so hungry looking at this photo cos every bit of it was so yummy..the salty and crispy nachos with the soft and mushy guacomole and sour cream and salty cheese..oh im such a carbo junkie lapping everything from the rice to the black beans! the jalapenos tops it all with the spiciness. i could finish the whole $21.99 version for my dinner man..but of cos we shared all our dishes cos everything came in super big portions..we ordered 2 mains and 2 appetisers for 4 (very big) girls and it was just about right...downing the meal with only 2 magaritas..yup u got that, 2 drinks for 4 people proving we're really not much of a drinker

We found this a bit too floury..the soft corn tortillas was sooo thick (can u see the many many layers of it?)and there was so little smoked salmon and cabbage garnish (yeah maybe its called garnish for a reason) in comparison..but i really like the cilantro rice and beans alot..see its really a huge portion

I always thought that quesadillas are like super thin pizzas folded in.. (and calzones are like giant curry puffs instead of folded pizzas) and these quesadillas are really thin indeed..we ordered the cheese and mushroom one and i must say 2 of my friends voted this as their favourite for the night (i still stand by my nachos) because this dish was simple and done well, the tortilla being crisp and complementing the cheese. Didn't really use the tangy dip much though, the quesadillas tasted good on its own.

On the other hand the calamari was so soggy! isnt fried calamari supposed to be crispy..it was really sogged up by the mole verde.. the dish should be renamed tender squid with mole verde instead..i should have noted the TENDER adjective as a warning rather than get all excited by the calamari word..

Mexican food has all these exotic names for its dishes (just like japanese food it takes a while to learn the new food language) .. i'd wanna try these the next time when i come back (in addition to my nachos):

Burrito(In Cafe Iguana this is served with lime-scented cilantro rice,b0rracho beans and cheddar mozzarella)= flour tortilla wrapped around one of the following fillings:Red Snapper 20.99Shredded Steak 19.99Grilled Chicken 18.99Grilled Vegetables 16.99

This looks like hotplate and looks rather dramatic with the sizzling meats..i think i had the grilled prawns one on my previous visit..

with these new additions to my mexican food dictionary, i shall check out Magaritas at Dempsey(highly recommended by some people) and Cha cha cha at Holland Village (recommended by the Hongkong elective students) very soon!